It appears that the best performing videos in terms of total views tend to use one of more of either #fyp, #foryou, or #foryoupage (observation based on similar niche videos).

It appears that using more than 6 hashtags can cause a noticeable decline in average view numbers (perhaps too spammy or not targeted enough?).

Post Length:

Across 126 videos, all with varying video lengths from 6-60 seconds, the best performing videos when averaging both the views and likes ratio are those that fall between 9-15 seconds in length.

Text Captions:

One clear consistency in my results showed in videos that contained at least one text caption, that is to say videos with border text or a disappearing series of text captions. It seems both types of videos that contain overlayed text out-perform all others in terms of both views and likes ratio.

Reposting:
Seeing as though I am personally not a content creator I use existing viral videos from YouTube/Instagram to build audiences across my multiple TikTok accounts. The problem however is that TikTok uses a sophisticated algorithm designed to detect when duplicate content is posted from the web, and will deliberately restrict your views and engagement for the infringing post.

After many failed attempts I finally secured a promising way to trick the algorithm into believe the content is original:

Using an App on my tablet I first crop the video and cut off the sides, attempting to fit the video into a preferred 9:16 (portrait) aspect ratio without losing important aspects of the video content itself.

I then use a separate App to flip the image using a ‘mirror’ function.

Once I have completed these two steps the video content is ready to go and will pass the TikTok content filter.

I really hope this data helps bring some hope to those who have been struggling with utilizing their full potential on TikTok, and would love to hear your thoughts and personal experiences below